A Book of Prints

The period between 2016 and 2021, when with four friends we published a periodic zine, was amazing. We managed to print a total of eight issues, each with a specific theme. The recent economic crisis killed it off, but anyhow, it was a hugely rewarding experience. Towards the end of last year nostalgia started to creep in. So, I began pondering about handcrafting a one-off book that contained my photographs in the zines. 

Weighing various options and my own capabilities, also trying out a few different ideas, I decided on spiral binding proper RC prints; something I'd never done before. To keep the size reasonable and manageable I also decided to only include the 26 photos from the first four issues. If it looked good, I could produce Vol2 sometime later. I was in no hurry and began printing the photos over several months; one or two at a time during every darkroom session. This is the end-product:

I trimmed each 24x30cm Ilford RC pearl sheet down to 24x25cm for an almost square format. The extra centimeter was reserved for the spiral holes. The print size and location on each sheet was another thing that had to be gauged. The book has four chapters separated with a sheet of blue card, each chapter containing my pictures from that issue. I also printed out and glued the zine covers onto each separator card.

I think it turned out quite OK. Very spartan. Very simple. Too spartan? Too simple? I wish I had the abilities and imagination of a Peter Beard...but, oh well, I am what I am, and it's still better than nothing.

Mucilage

The "Spiderweb"

In late spring 2021, millions living around the Sea of Marmara woke up to an environmental disaster. Huge swathes of the sea surface were covered in sea-snot, aka mucilage. Turns out it had been in the making for decades and Mother Nature finally had enough. Apparently, She'd been telling us that She didn't feel well in her own language for a long time, but some of those who should've been listening and acting were clearly not paying attention.

When phosphorus and nitrogen levels rise in the sea, combined with warmer and relatively stagnant water, a reaction is triggered in phytoplanktons which begin secreting mucilage (for more detail: Eutrophication).  Why do phosphorus and nitrogen levels rise? Because of human activity, plus mismanagement. It seems there is a limit to how much untreated waste water you can dump into the sea!

So, one June morning, the shores of Istanbul, which can be breathtakingly beautiful before sunrise, looked like this:

 

The two B&W pictures here are part of the emotional fallout of this event in my psyche. I made them because I found the graphical resemblance to "mucilage" very striking, and because I felt that they mirrored the miserable condition we are in. They were made in the same summer of 2021. Both are found objects and there is absolutely no interference or rearrangement on my part.

The "Angelfish"

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I made both pictures with a Rolleiflex T (plus a Rolleinar 1 in the "Angelfish") and Kodak Tmax100 film. The prints are on 24 x 30 cm Ilford Classic FB paper.

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I'd like to add an epilogue about something fascinating. I made the "Angelfish" on the shore of this salt lake:

Now, whilst wandering around this shore, my shoes sinking into the salt/mud, I recognized some barely noticeable movement in a small puddle of salt-water. Upon a very close look, to my amazement, tiny and very strange red dragons I had never seen before were fluttering around in the extremely saline water. 

Any idea what they are? Maybe I've discovered a new species!*

*Thanks a lot to the one and only Phil Rogers, who with his comment shed light on my ignorance: They are brine shrimp larvae.